Free Business Days Calculator

Count working days with the rules that actually apply

This business days calculator handles two common jobs: counting working days between dates and moving a date forward or backward by a number of business days. The result updates instantly as you change the calendar.

The default workweek is Monday through Friday, but that is only a starting point. You can select any working weekdays, add exact holiday or closure dates, and control whether the first and last dates count. Every calculation happens locally in your browser, with no account and no date data sent to DraftFort.

Unlike a black-box total, the calculation trail shows why each date counted or was skipped. Download the full trail as CSV when a colleague, client or future you needs to review the calendar assumptions.

Business days between two dates

Use Count between dates when you need the number of working days inside a date range—for example, a project window, delivery period, response time, timesheet period or operating schedule.

The tool evaluates each calendar date in order. A date counts only when:

1. its weekday is selected as a working day;
2. it is not in the holiday or closure list; and
3. the start/end controls do not exclude that endpoint.

The result separates the business-day total from calendar dates, non-working days and supplied holidays. A holiday that already falls on a non-working day is shown as an overlap rather than pretending that two separate days were removed.

Inclusive and exclusive counting

There is no universal answer to whether “between” includes the start and end dates. That wording depends on the process being measured. DraftFort makes both choices visible:

• Include start date counts the first date if it is otherwise a business day.
• Include end date counts the final date if it is otherwise a business day.
• Turning either option off marks that endpoint as not counted in the trail.

For an elapsed period that begins after an event, exclude the start date. For a schedule covering all active dates, including both endpoints may be clearer.

Add or subtract business days

Use Add or subtract days when the question is “What date is 10 business days from here?” The calculator moves one calendar date at a time, counts only dates allowed by your workweek and holiday list, and stops when it reaches the requested number of business days.

The start date is excluded by default, which models “days after” a starting event. Turn on Count the start date only when your policy or agreement says the starting date itself is day one.

The result includes the final date, calendar days moved, non-working days skipped and supplied holidays skipped. The downloadable CSV preserves the full path used to reach the date.

Holidays and global workweeks

DraftFort does not silently apply a national holiday preset. A country label can still be incomplete because holidays may vary by state, province, territory, city, bank, exchange, employer, religion and year. Emergency closures and company shutdowns add another layer.

Instead, paste the exact YYYY-MM-DD dates relevant to your task. Invalid dates and duplicates are flagged. This explicit approach works worldwide and keeps the assumptions reviewable.

The selectable workweek also avoids assuming that every schedule runs Monday through Friday. Choose Friday–Saturday weekends, a Sunday-only closure, a six-day operation or a part-time pattern directly in the calculator.

Practical uses

• Project planning: count available working days inside a delivery window.
• Procurement: model lead times while excluding supplier shutdowns.
• Invoices: test a business-day payment term before entering the agreed date.
• Service levels: review response windows using the operation’s actual calendar.
• Staffing: compare scheduled workdays across a roster or reporting period.
• Shipping: add handling days while skipping known carrier closures.

For invoice-specific Net 30, Net 45 and Net 60 scenarios, use the invoice due date calculator. For recording actual hours worked, use the timesheet template, then measure billable utilization with the billable hours calculator.

What the CSV audit contains

The audit file is a UTF-8 CSV with one row for each evaluated date. It includes the ISO date, weekday, decision and whether the date counted. It is evidence of the inputs used in this browser calculation—not official proof that a deadline or holiday rule is legally correct.